According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) most recent Census of Agriculture for the category of vegetables, potatoes and melons, the top five counties were:

Monterey County, California

Fresno County, California

Yuma County, Arizona

Palm Beach County, Florida

Kern County, California

Monterey County grew almost twice the sales value of the next largest county, Fresno… and produced almost 9% of total U.S. value of vegetable production. Another, wow….and it is true that the Salinas Valley is the salad bowl capital of the U.S. (and the world?).

Most of what I see driving around Monterey County and neighboring counties are a whole lot salad green fields, and a lot of strawberry farms. Not so much melons or potato fields. This billion dollar number must mean mostly salad greens and artichokes, since strawberries are under another category for berries and tree nuts — an even bigger agriculture industry in California.

It is nearing summer time, and I am thinking of cherries and melons and luscious fruits to enjoy this summer, and places to take our grandchildren like “U-Pick” types of farms. The melons pictured on this post are the Casaba melons, which originated from Kasaba, Turkey, and are in the “winter melon” group that includes honey dew melons. “Winter” meaning they are hardy melons, since these melons are actually available in summer and fall.

I looked at the California Agricultural Tourism Directory website, clicked on the “U-Pick” category, and was surprised to find out there was only one listed for Monterey (The Farm – in the Salinas Valley). Surely there are more U-Pick farms in Monterey County? If you know of others, please comment. Thank you!